see textIn effigiem Thomæ Viati.Holbenus nitida pingendi maximus arteEffigiem expressit graphicè: sed nullus ApellesExprimet ingenium felix animumque Viati.It has been supposed that the original cut, of which the preceding is a fac-simile, was engraved by Holbein himself: if this were true, and the cut itself taken as a specimen of his abilities in this department380of art, there could not be a doubt of his having been a very indifferent wood engraver, for though there be considerable expression of character in the drawing of the head, the cut is executed in a very inferior style of art.The cuts in Cranmer’s Catechism, a small octavo, printed in 1548,VI.61have been ascribed to Holbein; but out of the whole number, twenty-nine, including the cut on the reverse of the title, there are only two which contain his mark. In the others the manner of pencilling is so unlike that of these two, and the drawing and composition bear so little resemblance to Holbein’s usual style, that I do not believe them to have been of his designing. In the cut on the reverse of the title, the subject is Cranmer presenting the Bible to Edward VI.; the others, twenty-eight in number, but containing only twenty-six different subjects,—as two of them are repeated,—are illustrative of different passages of Scripture cited in the work. The following cut is one of those designed by Holbein. It occurs at folio CL as an illustration of “the fyrst sermon. A declaration of the fyrst peticion” [of the Lord’s Prayer]. Holbein’s initials, H. H.—though the cross stroke of the first H is broken away—are perceived on the edge of what seems to be a book, to the left of the figure praying.see textThe other cut, designed by Holbein, and which contains his name at381full length,VI.62occurs at folio CCI. The subject is Christ casting out Devils, in illustration of the seventh petition of the Lord’s Prayer,—“Deliver us from evil.” The following is a fac-simile.see textFor the purpose of showing the difference of style between those two cuts and the others contained in the same work, the three given on the following page have been selected. The first, illustrating the Creation, occurs at the folio erroneously numberedCXCV, properlyCIX, No. 1; the second, illustrating the sermon of our redemption, at folioCXXI, No. 2; and the third, illustrating the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer,—“Thy will be done,”—at folioCLXVIII, No. 3. The following are the introductory remarks to the explanation of what the archbishop calls the third petition: “Ye have herde how in the former petycions, we require of our Lorde God to gyve us al thinges that perteyne to his glorye and to the kyngdom of heaven, whereof he hath gyven us commaundemente in the three preceptes written in the first table. Nowe folowethe the thirde peticyon, wherein we praye God to graūte us that we may fulfyll the other seven commaūdementes also, the whiche intreat of matiers concerning this worldly kingdome and transitorye lyfe, that is to saye, to honoure our parentes and gouernours, to kyl no man, to committe none adulterye, to absteyne from thefte and lyinge, and to behave our selfes in all thinges obedientlye, honestlye, peaceably, and godly.”see text and captionNo. 1.see text and captionNo. 2.see text and captionNo. 3.382The feebleness of the drawing and the want of distinctness in these three cuts, are totally unlike the more vigorous delineation of Holbein, as exemplified, though but imperfectly, in the two which are doubtlessly of his designing. None of them have the slightest383pretensions to delicacy or excellence of engraving, though they may be considered as the best that had been executed in this country up to that time. Those which, in my opinion, were not designed by Holbein have the appearance of having been engraved on afrushykind of wood, of comparatively coarse grain. It is not, however, unlikely that this appearance might result from the feebleness of the drawing, conjoined with want of skill on the part of the engraver.The following cut will not perhaps form an inappropriate termination to the notice of the principal wood engravings which have been ascribed to Holbein. It occurs as an illustration of the generation of Christ, Matthew, chapterI, in an edition of the New Testament, printed at Zurich, by Froschover, in 1554,VI.63the year of Holbein’s death. Though there be no name to this cut, yet from the great resemblance which it bears to Holbein’s style, I have little doubt of the design being his.see textThe three following specimens of the cuts in Tindale’s Translation of the New Testament, printed at Antwerp in 1534,VI.64ought, in strict384chronological order, to have preceded those of the Dance of Death; but as Holbein holds the same rank in this chapter as Durer in the preceding, it seemed preferable to give first a connected account of the principal wood-cuts which are generally ascribed to him, and which385there is the strongest reason to believe were actually of his designing. The celebrity of Tindale’s translation, as the earliest English version of the New Testament which appeared in print, and the place which his name occupies in the earlier part of the history of the Reformation in England, will give an interest to those cuts to which they could have no pretensions as mere works of art. It is probable that they were executed at Antwerp, where the book was printed; and the drawing and engraving will afford some idea of the style of most of the small cuts which are to be found in works printed in Holland and Flanders about that period. The first of the preceding cuts represents St. Luke employed in painting a figure of the Virgin, and it occurs at the commencement of the Gospel of that Evangelist. The second, which occurs at the commencement of the General Epistle of James, represents that Saint in the character of a pilgrim. The third, Death on the Pale Horse, is an illustration of the sixth chapter of Revelations.see text and captionNo. 1.see text and captionNo. 2.see text and captionNo. 3.There is a beautiful copy, printed on vellum, of this edition of Tindale’s Translation of the New Testament in the Library of the British Museum. It appears to have formerly belonged to Queen Anne Boleyn, and was probably a presentation copy from the translator. The title-page is beautifully illuminated; the whole of the ornamental border, which is seen in the copies on paper, is covered with gilding and colour, and the wood-cut of the printer’s mark is covered with the blazoning of the royal arms. On the edges, which are gilt, there is inscribed, in red letters,Anna Regina Angliæ. This beautiful volume formerly belonged to the Reverend C. M. Cracherode, by whom it was bequeathed to the Museum.The first complete English translation of the Old and New Testaments was that of Miles Coverdale, which appeared in folio, 1535,VI.65without the name or residence of the printer, but supposed to have been printed at386Zurich by Christopher Froschover. The dedication is addressed to Henry VIII, by “his Graces humble subjecte and daylie oratour, Myles Coverdale;” and in the copy in the British Museum the commencement is as follows: “Unto the most victorious Prynce and our most gracyous soveraigne Lorde, kynge Henry the eyght, kynge of Englonde and of Fraunce, lorde of Irlonde, &c. Defendour of the Fayth, and under God the chefe and supreme heade of the churche of Englonde. ¶The ryght and just administracyon of the laws that God gave unto Moses and unto Josua: the testimonye of faythfulnes that God gave of David: the plenteous abundance of wysdome that God gave unto Salomon: the lucky and prosperous age with the multiplicacyon of sede which God gave unto Abraham and Sara his wyfe, he gevē unto you most Gracyous Prynce, with your dearest just wyfe and most virtuous Pryncesse, Quene Anne. Amen.” In most copies, however, “Quene Jane” is substituted for “Quene Anne,” which proves that the original dedication had been cancelled after the disgrace and execution of Anne Boleyn, and that, though the colophon is dated 4th October 1535, the work had not been generally circulated until subsequent to 20th May 1536, the date of Henry’s marriage with Jane Seymour.This edition contains a number of wood-cuts, all rather coarsely engraved, though some of them are designed with such spirit as to be not unworthy of Holbein himself, as will be apparent from two or three of the following specimens. In the first, Cain killing Abel, the attitude of Abel, and the action of Cain, sufficiently indicate that the original designer understood the human figure well, and could draw it with great force in a position which it is most difficult to represent.see text and captionNo. 1.The figure of Abraham in No. 2 bears in some parts considerable resemblance to that of the same subject given as a specimen of Holbein’s387Bible cuts at page 368; but there are several others in the work which are much more like his style; and which, perhaps, might be copied from earlier cuts of his designing. The two preceding may be considered as specimens of the best designed cuts in the Old Testament; and the following, the return of the Two Spies, is given us one of the more ordinary.see text and captionNo. 2.see text and captionNo. 3.The three next cuts are from the New Testament. The first forms the head-piece to the Gospel of St. Matthew; the second, which occurs on the title-page, and displays great power of drawing in the figure, is John the Baptist; and the third represents St. Paul writing, with his sword before him, and a weaver’s loom to his left: the last incident,388which is frequently introduced in old wood-cuts of this Saint, is probably intended to designate his business as a tentmaker, and also to indicate that, though zealously engaged in disseminating the doctrines of Christ, he had not ceased to “work with his hands.”see text and captionNo. 1.see text and captionNo. 2.see text and captionNo. 3.389Many of the cuts in this work are copied in a subsequent edition, also in folio, printed in 1537; and some of the copies are so extremely like the originals—every line being retained—as to induce a suspicion that the impressions of the latter had been transferred to the blocks by means of what is technically termed “rubbing down.”About 1530 the art of chiaro-scuro engraving on wood, which appears to have been first introduced into Italy by Ugo da Carpi, was practised by Antonio Fantuzzi, called also Antonio da Trente. Most of this engraver’s chiaro-scuros are from the designs of Parmegiano. It is said that Fantuzzi was employed by Parmegiano for the express purpose of executing chiaro-scuro engravings from his drawings, and that, when residing with his employer at Bologna, he took an opportunity of robbing him of all his blocks, impressions, and designs. Between 1530 and 1540 Joseph Nicholas Vincentini da Trente engraved several chiaro-scuros, most of which, like those executed by Fantuzzi, are from the designs of Parmegiano. From the number of chiaro-scuros engraved after drawings by this artist, I think it highly probable that the most of them were executed under his own superintendence and published for his own benefit. Baldazzar Peruzzi and Domenico Beccafumi, both painters of repute at that period, are said to have engraved in chiaro-scuro; but the prints in this style usually ascribed to them are not numerous, and I consider it doubtful if they were actually of their own engraving.From about 1530, the art of wood engraving, in the usual manner, began to make considerable progress in Italy, and many of the cuts executed in that country between 1540 and 1580 may vie with the best wood engravings of the same period executed in Germany. Instead of the plain and simple style, which is in general characteristic of Italian wood-cuts previous to 1530, the wood engravers of that country began to execute their subjects in a more delicate and elaborate manner. In the period under consideration, we find cross-hatching frequently introduced with great effect; there is a greater variety oftintin the cuts; the texture of different substances is indicated more correctly; the foliage of trees is more natural; and the fur and feathers of animals are discriminated with considerable ability.The following cut will afford perhaps some idea of the best Italian wood-cuts of the period under consideration. It is a reduced copy of the frontispiece to Marcolini’s Sorti,VI.66folio, printed at Venice in 1540.390There is an impression of this cut on paper of a greenish tint in the Print Room of the British Museum, and from this circumstance it is placed, though improperly, in a volume, marked I. W. 4, and lettered “Italian chiaro-scuros.” Underneath this impression the late Mr. Ottley has written, “Not in Bartsch;” and from his omitting to mention the work for which it was engraved, I am inclined to think that he himself was not aware of its forming the frontispiece to Marcolini’s Sorti. Papillon, speaking of the supposed engraver, Joseph Porta Garfagninus, whose name is seen on a tablet near the bottom towards the right, says, “J’ai de lui une fort belle Académie des Sciences,”VI.67but seems not to have known of the work to which it belonged. This cut is merely a copy, reversed, of a study by Raffaele for his celebrated fresco, usually391called the School of Athens, in the Vatican. It is engraved in a work entitled “Vies et Oeuvres des Peintres les plus célèbres,” 4to. Paris, 1813; and in the Table des Planches at the commencement of the volume in which it occurs, the subject is thus described: “Pl.CCCCV.Etude pour le tableau de l’Ecole d’Athènes. Ces différens episodes ne se retrouvant pas dans le tableau qui a été exécuté des mains de Raphaël, ne doivent être considérées que comme des essais ou premières pensées.Grav. M. Ravignano.” From this description it appears that the same subject had been previously engraved on copper by Marco da Ravenna, who flourished about the year 1530. Though I have never seen an impression of Marco’s engraving of this subject, and though it is not mentioned in Heineken’s catalogue of the engraved works of Raffaele,VI.68I have little doubt that Porta’s wood-cut is copied from it.see textJoseph Porta, frequently called Joseph Salviati by Italian authors, was a painter, and he took the surname of Salviati from that of his master, Francesco Salviati.VI.69There are a few other wood-cuts which contain his name; but whether he was the designer, or the engraver only, is extremely uncertain.Marcolini’s work contains nearly a hundred wood-cuts besides the frontispiece, but, though several of them are designed with great spirit, no one is so well engraved.VI.70The following is a fac-simile of one which occurs at page 35. The relentless-looking old woman is a personification ofPunitione—Punishment—holding in her right hand a tremendous scourge for the chastisement of evil-doers. Though this cut be but coarsely engraved, the domestic Nemesis, who here appears to wield the retributive scourge, is designed with such spirit that if the figure were executed in marble it might almost pass for one of Michael392Angelo’s. The drapery is admirably cast; the figure is good; and the action and expression are at once simple and severe.see textsee textThe preceding cut, also a fac-simile, occurs at page 81 as an illustration of Matrimony. The young man, with his legs already tied,393seems to be deliberating on the prudence of making a contract which may possibly add a yoke to his shoulders. The ring which he holds in his hand appears to have given rise to his cogitations.The following small cuts of cards—“Il Re, Fante, Cavallo, e Sette di denari”—are copied from the instructions in the preface;VI.71and the beautiful design of Truth rescued by Time—Veritas Filia Temporis—occurs as a tail-piece on the last page of the work. This cut occurs not unfrequently in works published by Giolito, by whom I believe the Sorti was printed; and two or three of the other cuts contained in the volume are to be found in a humorous work of Doni’s, entitled “I Marmi,” printed by Giolito in 1552.see textsee textThe wood engravers of Venice about the middle of the sixteenth century appear to have excelled all other Italian wood engravers, and for the delicacy of their execution they rivalled those of Lyons, who at that period were chiefly distinguished for the neat and delicate manner of their engraving small subjects. In the pirated edition of the Lyons Dance of Death, published at Venice in 1545 by V. Vaugris, the cuts are more correctly copied and more delicately engraved than394those in the edition first published at Cologne by the heirs of Arnold Birkman in 1555. In fact, the wood engravings in books printed at Lyons and Venice from about 1540 to 1580 are in general more delicately engraved than those executed in Germany and the Low Countries during the same period. Among all the Venetian printers of that age, Gabriel Giolito is entitled to precedence from the number and comparative excellence of the wood-cuts contained in the numerous illustrated works which issued from his press. In several of the works printed by him every cut is surrounded by an ornamental border; and this border, not being engraved on the same block as the cut, but separately as a kind of frame, is frequently repeated: sixteen different borders, when the book is of octavo size and there is a cut on every page, would suffice for the whole work, however extensive it might be. The practice ofornamentingcuts in this manner was very prevalent about the period under consideration, and at the present time some publishers seem inclined to revive it. I should, however, be sorry to see it again become prevalent, for though to some subjects, designed in a particular manner, an ornamental border may be appropriate, yet I consider the practice of thusframinga series of cuts as indicative of bad taste, and as likely to check the improvement of the art. Highly ornamented borders have, in a certain degree, the effect of reducing a series of cuts, however different their execution, to a standard of mediocrity; for they frequently conceal the beauty of a well-engraved subject, and serve as a screen to a bad one. In Ludovico Dolce’s Transformationi—a translation, or rather paraphrase of Ovid’s Metamorphoses—first printed by Giolito in 1553, and again395in 1557, the cuts, instead of having a border all round, have only ornaments at the two vertical sides. The preceding is a fac-simile of one of those cuts, divested of its ornaments, from the edition of 1557. The subject is the difficult labour of Alcmena,—a favourite with Italian artists. This is the cut previously alluded to atpage 217.see textA curious book, of which an edition, in quarto, was printed at Rome in 1561, seems deserving of notice here, not on account of any merit in the wood-cuts which it contains, but on account of the singularity of four of them, which are given as a specimen of a “Sonetto figurato,” in the manner of the cuts in a little work entitled “A curious Hieroglyphick Bible,” first printed in London, in duodecimo, about 1782. The Italian work in question was written by “Messer Giovam Battista Palatino, Cittadino Romano,” and from the date of the Pope’s grant to the author of the privilege of exclusively printing it for ten years, it seems likely that the first edition was published about 1540. The work is a treatise on penmanship; and the title-page of the edition of 1561—which is embellished with a portrait of the author—may be translated as follows: “The Book of M. Giovam Battista Palatino, citizen of Rome, in which is taught the manner of writing all kinds of characters, ancient and modern, of whatever nation, with Rules, Proportions, and Examples. Together with a short and useful Discourse on Cyphers. Newly revised and corrected by the Author. With the addition of fifteen beautiful cuts.”VI.72In Astle’s Origin and Progress of Writing, page 227, second edition, Palatino’s work is thus noticed: “In 1561, Valerius Doricus printed at Rome a curious book on all kinds of writing, ancient and modern. This book contains specimens of a great variety of writing practised in different ages and countries; some of these specimens are printed from types to imitate writing, and others from carved wood-blocks. This book also contains a treatise on the art of writing in cipher, and is a most curious specimen of early typography.”After his specimens of “Lettere Cifrate,” Palatino devotes a couple of pages to “Cifre quadrate, et Sonetti figurati,” two modes of riddle-writing which, it appears, are solely employed for amusement. The396“Cifro quadrato” is nothing more than a monogram, formed of a cluster of interwoven capitals, but in which every one of the letters of the name is to be found. In the following specimen the name thus ingeniously disguised isLavinia.see textThe following is a slightly reduced copy of the first four lines of the “Sonetto figurato;” the other ten lines are expressed by figures in a similar manner. “As to figured sonnets,” says the author, “no better rule can be given, than merely to observe that the figures should clearly and distinctly correspond with the matter, and that there should be as few supplementary letters as possible. Of course, orthography and pure397Italian are not to be looked for in such exercises; and it is no objection that the same figure be used for the beginning of one word, the middle of another, or the end of a third. It is the chief excellence of such compositions that there should be few letters to be supplied.”see textThe “interpretatio” of the preceding figured text is as follows:“Dove son gli occhi, et la serena formaDel santo alegro et amoroso aspetto?Dov’ è la man eburna ov’ e ’l bel pettoCh’ appensarvi hor’ in fonte mi transforma?”This figured sonnet is a curious specimen of hieroglyphic and “phonetic” writing combined. For those who do not understand Italian, it seems necessary to give the following explanation of the words, and point out their phonetic relation to the things.Dove, where, is composed ofD, andove, eggs, as seen at the commencement of the first line.Son, are, is represented by a man’s head and a trumpet, making a sound,son. The preceding figures are examples of what is called “phonetic” writing, by modern expounders of Egyptian antiquities,—that is, the figures ofthingsare not placed as representatives of the things themselves, but that their names when pronounced may form a word or part of a word, which has generally not the least relation to the thing by which it isphonetically, that is, vocally, expressed.Occhi, eyes, is an instance of hieroglyphic writing; the figure and the idea to be represented agree.La, the, is represented by the musical notela;serena, placid, by a Siren,—Sirena,—orthography, as the author says, is not to be expected in figured sonnets; andforma, shape, by a shoemaker’s last, which is calledformain Italian.In the second line,Santo, holy, is represented by a Saint,Santo;allegro, cheerfulness, by a pair of wings,ale, andgrue, a crane, the superfluouseforming, with theTfollowing, the conjunctionet, and. The wordsamoroso aspettoare formed ofamo, a hook,rosa, a rose, andpetto, the breast, with a supplementarysbetween the rose and the breast.In the third line we haveove, eggs, and the musicallaagain;man, the hand, is expressed by its proper figure;eburna, ivory-like, is composed of the lettersEBand an urn,urna; and in the latter part of the line the eggs,ov’, and the breast,petto, are repeated.At the commencement of the fourth line, a couple of cloaks,cappe, stand forch’ appein the compound wordch’ appensarvi;hor’, now, is represented by an hour-glass,hora, literally, an hour;fonte, a fountain, is expressed by its proper figure; and the wordsmi transforma, are phonetically expressed by a mitre,mitra, the supplementary lettersNS, and the shoemaker’s last,forma.In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a taste for inventing devices in this manner seems to have been fashionable among professed wits; and the398practice of expressing a name by a rebus was not unfrequent in an earlier age. It is probable that the old sign of the Bolt-in-Tun in Fleet Street derives its origin from Bolton, a prior of St. Bartholomew’s in Smithfield, who gave a bird-boltin the bung-hole of atunas the rebus of his name. The peculiarities of the Italian figured sonnet are not unaptly illustrated in Camden’s Remains, in the chapter entitled “Rebus,VI.73or Name-Devises:” “Did not that amorous youth mystically expresse his love toRose Hill, whom he courted, when in a border of his painted cloth he caused to be painted as rudely as he devised grossely, a rose, a hill, an eye, a loafe, and a well,—that is, if you will spell it,Rose Hill I love well.”VI.74Among the wood engravers of Lyons who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century, the only one whose name has come down to modern times is Bernard Solomon; and if he were actually the engraver of the numerous cuts which are ascribed to him, he must have been extremely industrious. I am not, however, aware of any cut which contains his mark; and it is by no means certain whether he were really a wood engraver, or whether he only made the designs for wood engravers to execute. Papillon, who has been blindly followed by most persons who have either incidentally or expressly written on wood engraving, unhesitatingly claims him as a wood engraver; but looking at the inequality in the execution of the cuts ascribed to him, and regarding the sameness of character in the designs, I am inclined to think that he was not an engraver, but that he merely made the drawings on the wood. Sir E. L. Bulwer has committed a mistake of this kind in his England and the English: “This country,” says he in his second volume, page 205, edition 1833, “may boast of having, in Bewick of Newcastle, brought wood engraving to perfection; his pupil, Harvey, continues the profession with reputation.” The writer here evidently speaks of that which he knows very little about, for at the time that his book was published, Harvey, though originally a wood engraver, and a pupil of399Bewick, had abandoned the profession for about eight years, and had devoted himself entirely to painting and drawing for copper-plate and wood engravers. Indeed I very much question if Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer ever saw a cut—except, perhaps, that of Dentatus,—which was actually engraved by Harvey. With about equal propriety, a writer, speaking of wood engraving in England twenty years ago, might have described the late John Thurston as “continuing the profession with reputation,” merely because he was one of the principal designers of wood engravings at that period.Bernard Solomon, whether a designer or engraver on wood, is justly entitled to be ranked among the “little masters” in this branch of art. All the cuts ascribed to him which have come under my notice are of small size, and most of them are executed in a delicate manner; they are, however, generally deficient in effect,VI.75and may readily be distinguished by the tall slim figures which he introduces. He evidently had not understood the “capabilities” of his art, for in none of his productions do we find the well-contrasted “black-and-white,” which, when well managed, materially contributes to the excellence of a well-engraved wood-cut. The production of a goodblackis, indeed, one of the great advantages, in point of conventional colour, which wood possesses over copper; and the wood engraver who neglects this advantage, and labours perhaps for a whole day to cut with mechanical precision a number of delicate but unmeaning lines, which a copper-plate engraver would execute with facility in an hour, affords a tolerably convincing proof of his not thoroughly understanding the principles of his art. In Bernard’s cuts, and in most of those executed at Lyons about the same period, we find much of this ineffective labour; we perceive in them many evidences of the pains-taking workman, but few traits of the talented artist. From the time that a taste for those little and laboriously executed, but spiritless cuts, began to prevail, the decline of wood engraving may be dated. Instead of confining themselves within the legitimate boundaries of their own art, wood engravers seem to have been desirous of emulating the delicacy of copper-plate engraving, and, as might naturally be expected by any one who understands the distinctive peculiarities of the two arts, they failed. The book-buyers of the period having become sickened with the glut of tasteless400and ineffective trifles, wood engraving began to decline: large well-engraved wood-cuts executed between 1580 and 1600 are comparatively scarce.Bernard Solomon, or, as he is frequently called,LittleSolomon, from the smallness of his works, is said to have been born in 1512, and the most of the cuts which are ascribed to him appeared in works printed at Lyons between 1545 and 1580. Perhaps more books containing small wood-cuts were printed at Lyons between those years than in any other city or town in Europe during the corresponding period. It appears to have been the grand mart for Scripture cuts, emblems, and devices; but out of the many hundreds which appear to have been engraved there in the period referred to, it would be difficult to select twenty that can be considered really excellent both in execution and design. One of the principal publishers of Lyons at that time was Jean de Tournes; many of the works which issued from his press display great typographic excellence, and in almost all the cuts are engraved with great neatness. The following cut is a fac-simile of one which appears in the title-page of an edition of Petrarch’s Sonnetti, Canzoni, e Trionfi, published by him in a small octodecimo volume, 1545.see textThe design of the cut displays something of the taste for emblem and deviceVI.76which was then so prevalent, and which became so generally diffused by the frequent editions of Alciat’s Emblems, the first of which was printed about 1531. The portraits of Petrarch and Laura, looking not unlike “Philip and Mary on a shilling,” are401seen enclosed within a heart which Cupid has pierced to the very core with one of his arrows. The volume contains seven other small cuts, designed and engraved in a style which very much resembles that of the cuts ascribed to Bernard Solomon; and as there is no mark by which his productions are to be ascertained, I think they are as likely to be of his designing as three-fourths of those which are generally supposed to be of his engraving.The work entitled “Quadrins Historiques de la Bible,” with wood-cuts, ascribed to Bernard Solomon, and printed at Lyons by Jean de Tournes, was undoubtedly suggested by the “Historiarum Veteris Testamenti Icones”—Holbein’s Bible-cuts—first published by the brothers Frellon in 1538. The first edition of the Quadrins Historiques was published in octavo about 1550, and was several times reprinted within the succeeding twenty years. The total number of cuts in the edition of 1560 is two hundred and twenty-nine, of which no less than one hundred and seventy are devoted to the illustration of Exodus and Genesis. At the top of each is printed the reference to the chapter to which it relates, and at the bottom is a “Quadrin poëtique, tiré de la Bible, pour graver en la table des affeccions l’amour des sacrees Histories.” Those “Quadrins” appear to have been written by Claude Paradin. The composition of several of the cuts is good, and nearly all display greatneatnessof execution. The following is a fac-simile of the seventh, Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise. It is, however, necessary to observe that this is by no means one of the best cuts either in point of design or execution.see text402A similar work, entitled “Figures du Nouveau Testament,” with cuts, evidently designed by the person who had made the drawings for those in the “Quadrins Historiques de la Bible,” was also published by Jean de Tournes about 1553, and several editions were subsequently printed. The cuts are rather less in size than those of the Quadrins, and are, on the whole, rather better engraved. The total number is a hundred and four, and under each are six explanatory verses, composed by Charles Fonteine, who, in a short poetical address at the commencement, dedicates the work “A Tres-illustre et Treshaute Princesse, Madame Marguerite de France, Duchesse de Berri.” The following, Christ tempted by Satan, is a copy of the sixteenth cut, but like that of the expulsion of Adam and Eve, it is not one of the best in the work.see textOld engravings and paintings illustrative of manners or of costume are generally interesting; and on this account a set of large wood-cuts designed by Peter Coeck of Alost, in Flanders, is deserving of notice. The subjects of those cuts are the manners and costumes of the Turks; and the drawings were made on the spot by Coeck himself, who visited Turkey in 1533. It is said that he brought from the east an important secret relative to the art of dyeing silk and wool for the fabrication of tapestries, a branch of manufacture with which he appears to have been connected, and for which he made a number of designs. He was also an architect and an author; and published several treatises on sculpture, geometry, perspective, and architecture. The cuts illustrative of the manners and costume of the Turks were not published until 1553, three years after his decease, as we learn from an inscription403on the last.VI.77They are oblong, of folio size; and the seven of which the set consists are intended to be joined together, and thus to form one continuous subject. The figures, both on foot and horseback, are designed with great spirit, but they want relief, and the engraving is coarse. One of the customs which he has illustrated in the cut No. 3 is singular; and though thisorientalismhas been noticed by a Scottish judge—Maclaurin of Dreghorn—Peter Coeck appears to be the only traveller who has graphically represented “quo modo Turci mingunt,” i. e.sedentes. Succeeding artists have availed themselves liberally of those cuts. As the Turks in the sixteenth century were much more formidable as a nation than at present, and their manners and customs objects of greater curiosity, wood engravings illustrative of their costume and mode of living appear to have been in considerable demand at that period, for both in books and as single cuts they are comparatively numerous.Though chiaro-scuro engraving on wood was, in all probability, first practised in Germany, yet the art does not appear to have been so much cultivated nor so highly prized in that country as in Italy. Between 1530 and 1550, when Antonio Fantuzzi, J. N. Vincentini, and other Italians, were engaged in executing numerous chiaro-scuros after the designs of such masters as Raffaele, Corregio, Parmegiano, Polidoro, Beccafumi, and F. Salviati, the art appears to have been comparatively abandoned by the wood engravers of Germany. The chiaro-scuros executed in the latter country cannot generally for a moment bear a comparison, either in point of design or execution, with those executed in Italy during the same period. I have, however, seen one German cut executed in this style, with the date 1543, which, for the number of the blocks from which it is printed, and the delicacy of the impression in certain parts, is, if genuine, one of the most remarkable of that period. As the paper, however, seems comparatively modern, I am induced to suspect that the date may be that of the painting or drawing, and that this picture-print—for, though executed by the same process, it would be improper to call it a chiaro-scuro—may have been the work of Ungher, a German wood engraver, who executed some chiaro-scuros at Berlin about seventy years ago. Whatever may be the date, however, or whoever may have been the artist, it is one of the best executed specimens of coloured block printing that I have ever seen.404This curious picture-print, including the border, is ten inches and three quarters high by six inches and three quarters wide. The subject is a figure of Christ; in his left hand he holds an orb emblematic of his power, while the right is elevated as in the act of pronouncing a benediction. His robe is blue, with the folds indicated by a darker tint, and the border and lighter parts impressed with at least two lighter colours. Above this robe there is a large red mantle, fastened in front with what appears to be a jewel of three different colours, ruby, yellow, and blue; the folds are of a darker colour; and the lights are expressed by a kind of yellow, which has evidently been either impressed, or laid on the paper with a brush, before the red colour of the mantle, and which, from its glistening, seems to have been compounded with some metallic substance like fine gold-dust. The border of the print consists of a similar yellow, between plain black lines. The face is printed in flesh colour of three tints, and the head is surrounded with rays of glory, which appear like gilding. The engraving of the face, and of the hair of the head and beard, is extremely well executed, and much superior to anything that I have seen in wood-cuts containing Ungher’s mark. The globe is blue, with the lights preserved, intersected by light red and yellow lines; and the small cross at the top is also yellow, like the light on the red mantle. The hands and feet are expressed in their proper colours; the ground on which the Redeemer stands is something between a lake and a fawn colour; and the ground of the print, upwards from about an inch above the bottom, is of a lighter blue than the robe. To the right, near the bottom, are the date and mark, thus:see textThe figure like a winged serpent resembles a mark which was frequently used by Lucas Cranach, except that the serpent or dragon of the latter appears less crooked, and usually has a ring in its mouth. The letter underneath also appears rather more like an I than an L. The drawing of the figure of Christ, however, is very much in the style of Lucas Cranach, and I am strongly inclined to think that the original painting or drawing was executed by him, whoever may have been the engraver. There must have been at least ten blocks required for this curious print, which, for clearness and distinctness in the colours, and for delicacy of impression, more especially in the face, may challenge a comparison not only with the finest chiaro-scuros of former times, but also with the best specimens of coloured block-printing of the present day.VI.78405In 1557, Hubert Goltzius, a painter, but better known as an author than as an artist, published at Antwerp, in folio, a work containing portraits, executed in chiaro-scuro, of the Roman emperors, from Julius Cæsar to Ferdinand I.VI.79Descamps, in his work entitled “La Vie des Peintres Flamands, Allemands et Hollandois,” says that those portraits, which are all copied from medals, were “engraved on wood by a painter of Courtrai, named Joseph Gietleughen;”VI.80and Papillon, who had examined the work more closely, but not closely enough, says that the outlines are etched, and that the tworentrées—the subsequent impressions which give to the whole the appearance of a chiaro-scuro drawing—are from blocks of wood engraved inintaglio. What Papillon says about the outlines being etched is true; but a close inspection of those portraits will afford any person acquainted with the process ample proof of the “rentrées” being also printed from plates of metal in the same manner as from engraved wood-blocks.Each of those portraits appears like an enlarged copy of a medal, and is the result of three separate impressions; the first, containing the outlines of the head, the ornaments, and the name, has been printed from an etched plate of copper or some other metal, by means of a copper-plate printing-press; and the two other impressions, over the first, have also been from plates of metal, mounted on blocks of wood, and printed by means of the common typographic printing-press. The outlines of the head and of the letters forming the legend are black; the field of the medal is a muddy kind of sepia; and the head and the border, printed from the same surface and at the same time, are of a lighter shade. The lights to be preserved have been cut inintaglioin the plates for the two “rentrées” in the same manner as on blocks of wood for printing in chiaro-scuro. The marks of the pins by which the two plates for the “rentrées” have been fastened to blocks of wood, to raise them to a proper height, are very perceptible; in the field of the medal they appear like circular points, generally in pairs; while round the outer margin they are mostly of a square form. It is difficult to conceive what advantage Goltzius might expect to derive by printing the “rentrées” from metal plates; for all that he has thus produced could have been more simply effected by means of wood-blocks, as practised up to that time by all other chiaro-scuro engravers. Though those portraits possess but little merit as chiaro-scuros, they are yet highly interesting in the history of art, as affording the first instances of406etching being employed for the outlines of a chiaro-scuro, and of the substitution, in surface-printing, of a plate of metal for a wood-block. Goltzius’s manner of etching the outlines of a chiaro-scuro print was frequently practised both by French and English artists about the middle of the last century; and about 1722, Edward Kirkall engraved the principal parts of his chiaro-scuros in mezzo-tint, and afterwards printed a tint from a metal plate mounted on wood. In the present day Mr. George Baxter has successfully applied the principle of engraving the ground and the outlines of his subjects in aqua-tint; and, as in the case of Hubert Goltzius and Kirkall, he sometimes uses a metal-plate instead of a wood-block in surface-printing. In the picture-prints executed by Mr. Baxter for the Pictorial Album, 1837, the tint of the paper on which each imitative painting appears to be mounted, is communicated from a smooth plate of copper, which receives the colour, and is printed in the same manner as a wood-block.Among the German artists who made designs for wood engravers from the time of Durer to about 1590, Erhard Schön, Virgil Solis, Melchior Lorich, and Jost Amman may be considered as the principal. They are all frequently described as wood engravers from the circumstance of their marks being found on the cuts which they undoubtedly designed, but most certainly did not engrave. Erhard Schön chiefly resided at Nuremberg; and some of the earliest cuts of his designing are dated 1528. In 1538 he published at Nuremberg a small treatise, in oblong quarto, on the proportions of the human figure, for the use of students and young persons.VI.81This work contains several wood-cuts, all coarsely engraved, illustrative of the writer’s precepts; two or three of them—where the heads and bodies are represented by squares and rhomboidal figures—are extremely curious, though apparently not very well adapted to improve a learner in the art of design. Another of the cuts, where the proportions are illustrated by means of a figure inscribed within a circle, is very like one of the illustrations contained in Flaxman’s Lectures on Sculpture. Some cuts of playing-cards, designed by Schön, are in greater request than any of his other works engraved on wood, which, for the most part, have but little to recommend them. He died about 1550.Virgil Solis, a painter, copper-plate engraver, and designer on wood, was born at Nuremberg about 1514. The cuts which contain his mark are extremely numerous; and, from their being mostly of small size, he is ranked by Heineken with the “Little Masters.” Several of his cuts407display great fertility of invention; but though his figures are frequently spirited and the attitudes good, yet his drawing is generally careless and incorrect. As a considerable number of his cuts are of the same kind as those of Bernard Solomon, it seems as if there had been a competition at that time between the booksellers of Nuremberg and those of Lyons for supplying the European market with illustrations of two works of widely different character, to wit, the Bible, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses,—Virgil Solis being retained for the German, and Bernard Solomon for the French publishers. He designed the cuts in a German edition of the Bible, printed in 1560; most of the portraits of the Kings of France in a work published at Nuremberg in 1566; a series of cuts for Esop’s fables; and the illustrations of an edition of Reusner’s Emblems. Several cuts with the mark of Virgil Solis are to be found in the first edition of Archbishop Parker’s Bible, printed by Richard Jugge, folio, London, 1568. In the second edition, 1572, there are two ornamented initial letters, apparently of his designing, which seem to show that his sacred and profane subjects were liable to be confounded, and that cuts originally designed for an edition of Ovid might by some singular oversight be used in an edition of the Bible, although printed under the especial superintendence of a Right Reverend Archbishop. In the letter G, which forms the commencement of the first chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews, the subject represented by the artist is Leda caressed by Jupiter in the form of a swan; and in the letter T at the commencement of the first chapter of the Epistle General of St. John, the subject is Venus before Jove, with Cupid, Juno, Mars, Neptune, and other Heathen deities in attendance.VI.82A series of wood-cuts designed by Virgil Solis, illustrative of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, was published at Frankfort, in oblong quarto, by George Corvinus, Sigismund Feyerabend, and the heirs of Wigand Gallus, in 1569. Each cut is surrounded by a heavy ornamental border; above each are four verses in Latin, and underneath four in German, composed by Johannes Posthius, descriptive of the subject. In the title-page,VI.83which is both in Latin and in German, it is stated that they aredesigned—gerissen—by Virgil Solis for the use and benefit of painters, goldsmiths, and statuaries. It is thus evident that they were not engraved by him; and in corroboration of this opinion it may be observed that several408of them, in addition to his mark,symbol, also contain another,symbol, which is doubtless that of the wood engraver. The latter mark occurs frequently in the cuts designed by Virgil Solis, in the first edition of Archbishop Parker’s Bible.Evelyn, in his Sculptura, has the following notice of this artist: “Virgilius Solis graved also in woodThe story of the BibleandThe mechanic artsin little; but for imitating those vile postures of Aretine had his eyes put out by the sentence of the magistrate.” There is scarcely a page of this writer’s works on art which does not contain similar inaccuracies, and yet he is frequently quoted and referred to as an authority. The “mechanic arts” to which Evelyn alludes were probably the series of cuts designed by Jost Amman, and first published in quarto, at Frankfort, in 1564; and the improbable story of Virgil Solis having had his eyes put out for copying Julio Romano’s obscene designs, engraved by Marc Antonio, and illustrated with sonnets by the scurrilous ribald, Pietro Aretine, is utterly devoid of foundation. No such copies have ever been mentioned by any well-informed writer on art, and there is not the slightest evidence of Virgil Solis ever having been punished in any manner by the magistrates of his native city, Nuremberg, where he died in 1570.Wood-cuts with the mark of Melchior Lorich are comparatively scarce. He was a native of Flensburg in Holstein, and was born in 1527. He obtained a knowledge of painting and copper-plate engraving at Leipsic, and afterwards travelled with his master through some of the northern countries of Europe. He afterwards visited Vienna, and subsequently entered into the service of the Palsgrave Otho, in whose suite he visited Holland, France, and Italy. In 1558 he went with the Imperial ambassador to Constantinople, where he remained three years. His principal works engraved on wood consist of a series of illustrations of the manners and customs of the Turks, published about 1570. There is a very clever cut, a Lady splendidly dressed, with his mark and the date 1551; it is printed on what is called a “broadside,” and underneath is a copy of verses by Hans Sachs, the celebrated shoemaker andmeistersängerof Nuremberg,VI.84entitled “Eer und Lob einer schön wolgezierten Frawen”—The Honour and Praise of a beautiful well-dressed woman. A large cut of the Deluge, in two sheets, is409considered one of the best of his designing. Among the copper-plates engraved by Melchior Lorich, a portrait of Albert Durer, and two others, of the Grand Signior and his favourite Sultana, are among the most scarce. The time of his death is uncertain, but Bartsch thinks that he was still living in 1583, as there are wood-cuts with his mark of that date.Jost Amman, one of the best designers on wood of the period in which he lived, was born at Zurich in 1539, but removed to Nuremberg about 1560.VI.85His designs are more bold, and display more of the vigour of the older German masters, than those of his contemporary Virgil Solis. A series of cuts designed by him, illustrative of professions and trades, was published in 1564, quarto, with the title “Hans Sachse eigentliche Beschreibung aller Stände auf Erden—aller Künste und Handwerker,” &c.—that is, Hans Sachs’s correct Description of all Ranks, Arts, and Trades; and another edition in duodecimo, with the descriptions in Latin, appeared in the same year.VI.86For the correctness of the date of those editions I am obliged to rely on Heineken, as I have never seen a copy of either; the earliest edition with Hans Sachs’s descriptions that has come under my notice is dated 1574. In a duodecimo edition, 1568, and another of the same size, 1574, the descriptions, by Hartman Schopper, are in Latin verse.VI.87This is perhaps the most curious and interesting series of cuts, exhibiting the various ranks and employments of men, that ever was published. Among the higher orders, constituting what the Germans call the “Lehre und Wehr Stande”—teachers and warriors—are the Pope, Emperor, King, Princes, Nobles, Priests, and Lawyers; while almost every branch of labour or of trade then known in Germany, from agriculture to pin-making, has its representative. There are also not a few which it would be difficult to reduce to any distinct class, as they are neither trades nor honest professions. Of those heteroclytes is the “Meretricum procurator—der Hurenweibel”—or, as Captain Dugald Dalgetty says, “the captain of the Queans.”The subject of the following cut, which is of the same size as the410original, is aBriefmaler,—literally, a card-painter, the name by which the German wood engravers were known before they adopted the more appropriate one ofFormschneider. It is evident, that, at the time when the cut was engraved, the two professions were distinct:VI.88we here perceive the Briefmaler employed, not in engraving cuts, but engaged in colouring certain figures by means of astencil,—that is, a card or thin plate of metal, out of which the intended figure is cut. A brush charged with colour being drawn over the pierced card, as is seen in the cut, the figure is communicated to the paper placed underneath. The little shallow vessels perceived on the top of the large box in front are the saucers which contain his colours. Near the window, immediately to his right, is a pile of sheets which, from the figure of a man on horseback seen impressed upon them, appear to be already finished.see textThe subject of the following cut, from the same work, is aFormschneider, or wood engraver proper. He is apparently at work on a block which he has before him; but the kind of tool which he employs is not exactly like those used by English wood engravers411of the present day. It seems to resemble a small long-handled desk-knife; while the tool of the modern wood engraver has a handle which is rounded at the top in order to accommodate it to the palm of the hand. It is also never held vertically, as it appears in the hand of theFormschneider. It is, however, certain, from other woodcuts, which will be subsequently noticed, that the wood engravers of that period were accustomed to use a tool with a handle rounded at the top, similar to the graver used in the present day.VI.89—The verses descriptive of the annexed cut are translated from Hans Sachs.
see textIn effigiem Thomæ Viati.Holbenus nitida pingendi maximus arteEffigiem expressit graphicè: sed nullus ApellesExprimet ingenium felix animumque Viati.
In effigiem Thomæ Viati.Holbenus nitida pingendi maximus arteEffigiem expressit graphicè: sed nullus ApellesExprimet ingenium felix animumque Viati.
Holbenus nitida pingendi maximus arte
Effigiem expressit graphicè: sed nullus Apelles
Exprimet ingenium felix animumque Viati.
It has been supposed that the original cut, of which the preceding is a fac-simile, was engraved by Holbein himself: if this were true, and the cut itself taken as a specimen of his abilities in this department380of art, there could not be a doubt of his having been a very indifferent wood engraver, for though there be considerable expression of character in the drawing of the head, the cut is executed in a very inferior style of art.
The cuts in Cranmer’s Catechism, a small octavo, printed in 1548,VI.61have been ascribed to Holbein; but out of the whole number, twenty-nine, including the cut on the reverse of the title, there are only two which contain his mark. In the others the manner of pencilling is so unlike that of these two, and the drawing and composition bear so little resemblance to Holbein’s usual style, that I do not believe them to have been of his designing. In the cut on the reverse of the title, the subject is Cranmer presenting the Bible to Edward VI.; the others, twenty-eight in number, but containing only twenty-six different subjects,—as two of them are repeated,—are illustrative of different passages of Scripture cited in the work. The following cut is one of those designed by Holbein. It occurs at folio CL as an illustration of “the fyrst sermon. A declaration of the fyrst peticion” [of the Lord’s Prayer]. Holbein’s initials, H. H.—though the cross stroke of the first H is broken away—are perceived on the edge of what seems to be a book, to the left of the figure praying.
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The other cut, designed by Holbein, and which contains his name at381full length,VI.62occurs at folio CCI. The subject is Christ casting out Devils, in illustration of the seventh petition of the Lord’s Prayer,—“Deliver us from evil.” The following is a fac-simile.
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For the purpose of showing the difference of style between those two cuts and the others contained in the same work, the three given on the following page have been selected. The first, illustrating the Creation, occurs at the folio erroneously numberedCXCV, properlyCIX, No. 1; the second, illustrating the sermon of our redemption, at folioCXXI, No. 2; and the third, illustrating the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer,—“Thy will be done,”—at folioCLXVIII, No. 3. The following are the introductory remarks to the explanation of what the archbishop calls the third petition: “Ye have herde how in the former petycions, we require of our Lorde God to gyve us al thinges that perteyne to his glorye and to the kyngdom of heaven, whereof he hath gyven us commaundemente in the three preceptes written in the first table. Nowe folowethe the thirde peticyon, wherein we praye God to graūte us that we may fulfyll the other seven commaūdementes also, the whiche intreat of matiers concerning this worldly kingdome and transitorye lyfe, that is to saye, to honoure our parentes and gouernours, to kyl no man, to committe none adulterye, to absteyne from thefte and lyinge, and to behave our selfes in all thinges obedientlye, honestlye, peaceably, and godly.”
see text and captionNo. 1.
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No. 1.
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No. 2.
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No. 3.
The feebleness of the drawing and the want of distinctness in these three cuts, are totally unlike the more vigorous delineation of Holbein, as exemplified, though but imperfectly, in the two which are doubtlessly of his designing. None of them have the slightest383pretensions to delicacy or excellence of engraving, though they may be considered as the best that had been executed in this country up to that time. Those which, in my opinion, were not designed by Holbein have the appearance of having been engraved on afrushykind of wood, of comparatively coarse grain. It is not, however, unlikely that this appearance might result from the feebleness of the drawing, conjoined with want of skill on the part of the engraver.
The following cut will not perhaps form an inappropriate termination to the notice of the principal wood engravings which have been ascribed to Holbein. It occurs as an illustration of the generation of Christ, Matthew, chapterI, in an edition of the New Testament, printed at Zurich, by Froschover, in 1554,VI.63the year of Holbein’s death. Though there be no name to this cut, yet from the great resemblance which it bears to Holbein’s style, I have little doubt of the design being his.
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The three following specimens of the cuts in Tindale’s Translation of the New Testament, printed at Antwerp in 1534,VI.64ought, in strict384chronological order, to have preceded those of the Dance of Death; but as Holbein holds the same rank in this chapter as Durer in the preceding, it seemed preferable to give first a connected account of the principal wood-cuts which are generally ascribed to him, and which385there is the strongest reason to believe were actually of his designing. The celebrity of Tindale’s translation, as the earliest English version of the New Testament which appeared in print, and the place which his name occupies in the earlier part of the history of the Reformation in England, will give an interest to those cuts to which they could have no pretensions as mere works of art. It is probable that they were executed at Antwerp, where the book was printed; and the drawing and engraving will afford some idea of the style of most of the small cuts which are to be found in works printed in Holland and Flanders about that period. The first of the preceding cuts represents St. Luke employed in painting a figure of the Virgin, and it occurs at the commencement of the Gospel of that Evangelist. The second, which occurs at the commencement of the General Epistle of James, represents that Saint in the character of a pilgrim. The third, Death on the Pale Horse, is an illustration of the sixth chapter of Revelations.
see text and captionNo. 1.see text and captionNo. 2.
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No. 1.
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No. 2.
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No. 3.
There is a beautiful copy, printed on vellum, of this edition of Tindale’s Translation of the New Testament in the Library of the British Museum. It appears to have formerly belonged to Queen Anne Boleyn, and was probably a presentation copy from the translator. The title-page is beautifully illuminated; the whole of the ornamental border, which is seen in the copies on paper, is covered with gilding and colour, and the wood-cut of the printer’s mark is covered with the blazoning of the royal arms. On the edges, which are gilt, there is inscribed, in red letters,Anna Regina Angliæ. This beautiful volume formerly belonged to the Reverend C. M. Cracherode, by whom it was bequeathed to the Museum.
The first complete English translation of the Old and New Testaments was that of Miles Coverdale, which appeared in folio, 1535,VI.65without the name or residence of the printer, but supposed to have been printed at386Zurich by Christopher Froschover. The dedication is addressed to Henry VIII, by “his Graces humble subjecte and daylie oratour, Myles Coverdale;” and in the copy in the British Museum the commencement is as follows: “Unto the most victorious Prynce and our most gracyous soveraigne Lorde, kynge Henry the eyght, kynge of Englonde and of Fraunce, lorde of Irlonde, &c. Defendour of the Fayth, and under God the chefe and supreme heade of the churche of Englonde. ¶The ryght and just administracyon of the laws that God gave unto Moses and unto Josua: the testimonye of faythfulnes that God gave of David: the plenteous abundance of wysdome that God gave unto Salomon: the lucky and prosperous age with the multiplicacyon of sede which God gave unto Abraham and Sara his wyfe, he gevē unto you most Gracyous Prynce, with your dearest just wyfe and most virtuous Pryncesse, Quene Anne. Amen.” In most copies, however, “Quene Jane” is substituted for “Quene Anne,” which proves that the original dedication had been cancelled after the disgrace and execution of Anne Boleyn, and that, though the colophon is dated 4th October 1535, the work had not been generally circulated until subsequent to 20th May 1536, the date of Henry’s marriage with Jane Seymour.
This edition contains a number of wood-cuts, all rather coarsely engraved, though some of them are designed with such spirit as to be not unworthy of Holbein himself, as will be apparent from two or three of the following specimens. In the first, Cain killing Abel, the attitude of Abel, and the action of Cain, sufficiently indicate that the original designer understood the human figure well, and could draw it with great force in a position which it is most difficult to represent.
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No. 1.
The figure of Abraham in No. 2 bears in some parts considerable resemblance to that of the same subject given as a specimen of Holbein’s387Bible cuts at page 368; but there are several others in the work which are much more like his style; and which, perhaps, might be copied from earlier cuts of his designing. The two preceding may be considered as specimens of the best designed cuts in the Old Testament; and the following, the return of the Two Spies, is given us one of the more ordinary.
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No. 2.
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No. 3.
The three next cuts are from the New Testament. The first forms the head-piece to the Gospel of St. Matthew; the second, which occurs on the title-page, and displays great power of drawing in the figure, is John the Baptist; and the third represents St. Paul writing, with his sword before him, and a weaver’s loom to his left: the last incident,388which is frequently introduced in old wood-cuts of this Saint, is probably intended to designate his business as a tentmaker, and also to indicate that, though zealously engaged in disseminating the doctrines of Christ, he had not ceased to “work with his hands.”
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No. 1.
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No. 2.
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No. 3.
Many of the cuts in this work are copied in a subsequent edition, also in folio, printed in 1537; and some of the copies are so extremely like the originals—every line being retained—as to induce a suspicion that the impressions of the latter had been transferred to the blocks by means of what is technically termed “rubbing down.”
About 1530 the art of chiaro-scuro engraving on wood, which appears to have been first introduced into Italy by Ugo da Carpi, was practised by Antonio Fantuzzi, called also Antonio da Trente. Most of this engraver’s chiaro-scuros are from the designs of Parmegiano. It is said that Fantuzzi was employed by Parmegiano for the express purpose of executing chiaro-scuro engravings from his drawings, and that, when residing with his employer at Bologna, he took an opportunity of robbing him of all his blocks, impressions, and designs. Between 1530 and 1540 Joseph Nicholas Vincentini da Trente engraved several chiaro-scuros, most of which, like those executed by Fantuzzi, are from the designs of Parmegiano. From the number of chiaro-scuros engraved after drawings by this artist, I think it highly probable that the most of them were executed under his own superintendence and published for his own benefit. Baldazzar Peruzzi and Domenico Beccafumi, both painters of repute at that period, are said to have engraved in chiaro-scuro; but the prints in this style usually ascribed to them are not numerous, and I consider it doubtful if they were actually of their own engraving.
From about 1530, the art of wood engraving, in the usual manner, began to make considerable progress in Italy, and many of the cuts executed in that country between 1540 and 1580 may vie with the best wood engravings of the same period executed in Germany. Instead of the plain and simple style, which is in general characteristic of Italian wood-cuts previous to 1530, the wood engravers of that country began to execute their subjects in a more delicate and elaborate manner. In the period under consideration, we find cross-hatching frequently introduced with great effect; there is a greater variety oftintin the cuts; the texture of different substances is indicated more correctly; the foliage of trees is more natural; and the fur and feathers of animals are discriminated with considerable ability.
The following cut will afford perhaps some idea of the best Italian wood-cuts of the period under consideration. It is a reduced copy of the frontispiece to Marcolini’s Sorti,VI.66folio, printed at Venice in 1540.390There is an impression of this cut on paper of a greenish tint in the Print Room of the British Museum, and from this circumstance it is placed, though improperly, in a volume, marked I. W. 4, and lettered “Italian chiaro-scuros.” Underneath this impression the late Mr. Ottley has written, “Not in Bartsch;” and from his omitting to mention the work for which it was engraved, I am inclined to think that he himself was not aware of its forming the frontispiece to Marcolini’s Sorti. Papillon, speaking of the supposed engraver, Joseph Porta Garfagninus, whose name is seen on a tablet near the bottom towards the right, says, “J’ai de lui une fort belle Académie des Sciences,”VI.67but seems not to have known of the work to which it belonged. This cut is merely a copy, reversed, of a study by Raffaele for his celebrated fresco, usually391called the School of Athens, in the Vatican. It is engraved in a work entitled “Vies et Oeuvres des Peintres les plus célèbres,” 4to. Paris, 1813; and in the Table des Planches at the commencement of the volume in which it occurs, the subject is thus described: “Pl.CCCCV.Etude pour le tableau de l’Ecole d’Athènes. Ces différens episodes ne se retrouvant pas dans le tableau qui a été exécuté des mains de Raphaël, ne doivent être considérées que comme des essais ou premières pensées.Grav. M. Ravignano.” From this description it appears that the same subject had been previously engraved on copper by Marco da Ravenna, who flourished about the year 1530. Though I have never seen an impression of Marco’s engraving of this subject, and though it is not mentioned in Heineken’s catalogue of the engraved works of Raffaele,VI.68I have little doubt that Porta’s wood-cut is copied from it.
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Joseph Porta, frequently called Joseph Salviati by Italian authors, was a painter, and he took the surname of Salviati from that of his master, Francesco Salviati.VI.69There are a few other wood-cuts which contain his name; but whether he was the designer, or the engraver only, is extremely uncertain.
Marcolini’s work contains nearly a hundred wood-cuts besides the frontispiece, but, though several of them are designed with great spirit, no one is so well engraved.VI.70The following is a fac-simile of one which occurs at page 35. The relentless-looking old woman is a personification ofPunitione—Punishment—holding in her right hand a tremendous scourge for the chastisement of evil-doers. Though this cut be but coarsely engraved, the domestic Nemesis, who here appears to wield the retributive scourge, is designed with such spirit that if the figure were executed in marble it might almost pass for one of Michael392Angelo’s. The drapery is admirably cast; the figure is good; and the action and expression are at once simple and severe.
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The preceding cut, also a fac-simile, occurs at page 81 as an illustration of Matrimony. The young man, with his legs already tied,393seems to be deliberating on the prudence of making a contract which may possibly add a yoke to his shoulders. The ring which he holds in his hand appears to have given rise to his cogitations.
The following small cuts of cards—“Il Re, Fante, Cavallo, e Sette di denari”—are copied from the instructions in the preface;VI.71and the beautiful design of Truth rescued by Time—Veritas Filia Temporis—occurs as a tail-piece on the last page of the work. This cut occurs not unfrequently in works published by Giolito, by whom I believe the Sorti was printed; and two or three of the other cuts contained in the volume are to be found in a humorous work of Doni’s, entitled “I Marmi,” printed by Giolito in 1552.
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The wood engravers of Venice about the middle of the sixteenth century appear to have excelled all other Italian wood engravers, and for the delicacy of their execution they rivalled those of Lyons, who at that period were chiefly distinguished for the neat and delicate manner of their engraving small subjects. In the pirated edition of the Lyons Dance of Death, published at Venice in 1545 by V. Vaugris, the cuts are more correctly copied and more delicately engraved than394those in the edition first published at Cologne by the heirs of Arnold Birkman in 1555. In fact, the wood engravings in books printed at Lyons and Venice from about 1540 to 1580 are in general more delicately engraved than those executed in Germany and the Low Countries during the same period. Among all the Venetian printers of that age, Gabriel Giolito is entitled to precedence from the number and comparative excellence of the wood-cuts contained in the numerous illustrated works which issued from his press. In several of the works printed by him every cut is surrounded by an ornamental border; and this border, not being engraved on the same block as the cut, but separately as a kind of frame, is frequently repeated: sixteen different borders, when the book is of octavo size and there is a cut on every page, would suffice for the whole work, however extensive it might be. The practice ofornamentingcuts in this manner was very prevalent about the period under consideration, and at the present time some publishers seem inclined to revive it. I should, however, be sorry to see it again become prevalent, for though to some subjects, designed in a particular manner, an ornamental border may be appropriate, yet I consider the practice of thusframinga series of cuts as indicative of bad taste, and as likely to check the improvement of the art. Highly ornamented borders have, in a certain degree, the effect of reducing a series of cuts, however different their execution, to a standard of mediocrity; for they frequently conceal the beauty of a well-engraved subject, and serve as a screen to a bad one. In Ludovico Dolce’s Transformationi—a translation, or rather paraphrase of Ovid’s Metamorphoses—first printed by Giolito in 1553, and again395in 1557, the cuts, instead of having a border all round, have only ornaments at the two vertical sides. The preceding is a fac-simile of one of those cuts, divested of its ornaments, from the edition of 1557. The subject is the difficult labour of Alcmena,—a favourite with Italian artists. This is the cut previously alluded to atpage 217.
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A curious book, of which an edition, in quarto, was printed at Rome in 1561, seems deserving of notice here, not on account of any merit in the wood-cuts which it contains, but on account of the singularity of four of them, which are given as a specimen of a “Sonetto figurato,” in the manner of the cuts in a little work entitled “A curious Hieroglyphick Bible,” first printed in London, in duodecimo, about 1782. The Italian work in question was written by “Messer Giovam Battista Palatino, Cittadino Romano,” and from the date of the Pope’s grant to the author of the privilege of exclusively printing it for ten years, it seems likely that the first edition was published about 1540. The work is a treatise on penmanship; and the title-page of the edition of 1561—which is embellished with a portrait of the author—may be translated as follows: “The Book of M. Giovam Battista Palatino, citizen of Rome, in which is taught the manner of writing all kinds of characters, ancient and modern, of whatever nation, with Rules, Proportions, and Examples. Together with a short and useful Discourse on Cyphers. Newly revised and corrected by the Author. With the addition of fifteen beautiful cuts.”VI.72In Astle’s Origin and Progress of Writing, page 227, second edition, Palatino’s work is thus noticed: “In 1561, Valerius Doricus printed at Rome a curious book on all kinds of writing, ancient and modern. This book contains specimens of a great variety of writing practised in different ages and countries; some of these specimens are printed from types to imitate writing, and others from carved wood-blocks. This book also contains a treatise on the art of writing in cipher, and is a most curious specimen of early typography.”
After his specimens of “Lettere Cifrate,” Palatino devotes a couple of pages to “Cifre quadrate, et Sonetti figurati,” two modes of riddle-writing which, it appears, are solely employed for amusement. The396“Cifro quadrato” is nothing more than a monogram, formed of a cluster of interwoven capitals, but in which every one of the letters of the name is to be found. In the following specimen the name thus ingeniously disguised isLavinia.
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The following is a slightly reduced copy of the first four lines of the “Sonetto figurato;” the other ten lines are expressed by figures in a similar manner. “As to figured sonnets,” says the author, “no better rule can be given, than merely to observe that the figures should clearly and distinctly correspond with the matter, and that there should be as few supplementary letters as possible. Of course, orthography and pure397Italian are not to be looked for in such exercises; and it is no objection that the same figure be used for the beginning of one word, the middle of another, or the end of a third. It is the chief excellence of such compositions that there should be few letters to be supplied.”
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The “interpretatio” of the preceding figured text is as follows:
“Dove son gli occhi, et la serena formaDel santo alegro et amoroso aspetto?Dov’ è la man eburna ov’ e ’l bel pettoCh’ appensarvi hor’ in fonte mi transforma?”
“Dove son gli occhi, et la serena forma
Del santo alegro et amoroso aspetto?
Dov’ è la man eburna ov’ e ’l bel petto
Ch’ appensarvi hor’ in fonte mi transforma?”
This figured sonnet is a curious specimen of hieroglyphic and “phonetic” writing combined. For those who do not understand Italian, it seems necessary to give the following explanation of the words, and point out their phonetic relation to the things.Dove, where, is composed ofD, andove, eggs, as seen at the commencement of the first line.Son, are, is represented by a man’s head and a trumpet, making a sound,son. The preceding figures are examples of what is called “phonetic” writing, by modern expounders of Egyptian antiquities,—that is, the figures ofthingsare not placed as representatives of the things themselves, but that their names when pronounced may form a word or part of a word, which has generally not the least relation to the thing by which it isphonetically, that is, vocally, expressed.Occhi, eyes, is an instance of hieroglyphic writing; the figure and the idea to be represented agree.La, the, is represented by the musical notela;serena, placid, by a Siren,—Sirena,—orthography, as the author says, is not to be expected in figured sonnets; andforma, shape, by a shoemaker’s last, which is calledformain Italian.
In the second line,Santo, holy, is represented by a Saint,Santo;allegro, cheerfulness, by a pair of wings,ale, andgrue, a crane, the superfluouseforming, with theTfollowing, the conjunctionet, and. The wordsamoroso aspettoare formed ofamo, a hook,rosa, a rose, andpetto, the breast, with a supplementarysbetween the rose and the breast.
In the third line we haveove, eggs, and the musicallaagain;man, the hand, is expressed by its proper figure;eburna, ivory-like, is composed of the lettersEBand an urn,urna; and in the latter part of the line the eggs,ov’, and the breast,petto, are repeated.
At the commencement of the fourth line, a couple of cloaks,cappe, stand forch’ appein the compound wordch’ appensarvi;hor’, now, is represented by an hour-glass,hora, literally, an hour;fonte, a fountain, is expressed by its proper figure; and the wordsmi transforma, are phonetically expressed by a mitre,mitra, the supplementary lettersNS, and the shoemaker’s last,forma.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a taste for inventing devices in this manner seems to have been fashionable among professed wits; and the398practice of expressing a name by a rebus was not unfrequent in an earlier age. It is probable that the old sign of the Bolt-in-Tun in Fleet Street derives its origin from Bolton, a prior of St. Bartholomew’s in Smithfield, who gave a bird-boltin the bung-hole of atunas the rebus of his name. The peculiarities of the Italian figured sonnet are not unaptly illustrated in Camden’s Remains, in the chapter entitled “Rebus,VI.73or Name-Devises:” “Did not that amorous youth mystically expresse his love toRose Hill, whom he courted, when in a border of his painted cloth he caused to be painted as rudely as he devised grossely, a rose, a hill, an eye, a loafe, and a well,—that is, if you will spell it,
Rose Hill I love well.”VI.74
Among the wood engravers of Lyons who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century, the only one whose name has come down to modern times is Bernard Solomon; and if he were actually the engraver of the numerous cuts which are ascribed to him, he must have been extremely industrious. I am not, however, aware of any cut which contains his mark; and it is by no means certain whether he were really a wood engraver, or whether he only made the designs for wood engravers to execute. Papillon, who has been blindly followed by most persons who have either incidentally or expressly written on wood engraving, unhesitatingly claims him as a wood engraver; but looking at the inequality in the execution of the cuts ascribed to him, and regarding the sameness of character in the designs, I am inclined to think that he was not an engraver, but that he merely made the drawings on the wood. Sir E. L. Bulwer has committed a mistake of this kind in his England and the English: “This country,” says he in his second volume, page 205, edition 1833, “may boast of having, in Bewick of Newcastle, brought wood engraving to perfection; his pupil, Harvey, continues the profession with reputation.” The writer here evidently speaks of that which he knows very little about, for at the time that his book was published, Harvey, though originally a wood engraver, and a pupil of399Bewick, had abandoned the profession for about eight years, and had devoted himself entirely to painting and drawing for copper-plate and wood engravers. Indeed I very much question if Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer ever saw a cut—except, perhaps, that of Dentatus,—which was actually engraved by Harvey. With about equal propriety, a writer, speaking of wood engraving in England twenty years ago, might have described the late John Thurston as “continuing the profession with reputation,” merely because he was one of the principal designers of wood engravings at that period.
Bernard Solomon, whether a designer or engraver on wood, is justly entitled to be ranked among the “little masters” in this branch of art. All the cuts ascribed to him which have come under my notice are of small size, and most of them are executed in a delicate manner; they are, however, generally deficient in effect,VI.75and may readily be distinguished by the tall slim figures which he introduces. He evidently had not understood the “capabilities” of his art, for in none of his productions do we find the well-contrasted “black-and-white,” which, when well managed, materially contributes to the excellence of a well-engraved wood-cut. The production of a goodblackis, indeed, one of the great advantages, in point of conventional colour, which wood possesses over copper; and the wood engraver who neglects this advantage, and labours perhaps for a whole day to cut with mechanical precision a number of delicate but unmeaning lines, which a copper-plate engraver would execute with facility in an hour, affords a tolerably convincing proof of his not thoroughly understanding the principles of his art. In Bernard’s cuts, and in most of those executed at Lyons about the same period, we find much of this ineffective labour; we perceive in them many evidences of the pains-taking workman, but few traits of the talented artist. From the time that a taste for those little and laboriously executed, but spiritless cuts, began to prevail, the decline of wood engraving may be dated. Instead of confining themselves within the legitimate boundaries of their own art, wood engravers seem to have been desirous of emulating the delicacy of copper-plate engraving, and, as might naturally be expected by any one who understands the distinctive peculiarities of the two arts, they failed. The book-buyers of the period having become sickened with the glut of tasteless400and ineffective trifles, wood engraving began to decline: large well-engraved wood-cuts executed between 1580 and 1600 are comparatively scarce.
Bernard Solomon, or, as he is frequently called,LittleSolomon, from the smallness of his works, is said to have been born in 1512, and the most of the cuts which are ascribed to him appeared in works printed at Lyons between 1545 and 1580. Perhaps more books containing small wood-cuts were printed at Lyons between those years than in any other city or town in Europe during the corresponding period. It appears to have been the grand mart for Scripture cuts, emblems, and devices; but out of the many hundreds which appear to have been engraved there in the period referred to, it would be difficult to select twenty that can be considered really excellent both in execution and design. One of the principal publishers of Lyons at that time was Jean de Tournes; many of the works which issued from his press display great typographic excellence, and in almost all the cuts are engraved with great neatness. The following cut is a fac-simile of one which appears in the title-page of an edition of Petrarch’s Sonnetti, Canzoni, e Trionfi, published by him in a small octodecimo volume, 1545.
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The design of the cut displays something of the taste for emblem and deviceVI.76which was then so prevalent, and which became so generally diffused by the frequent editions of Alciat’s Emblems, the first of which was printed about 1531. The portraits of Petrarch and Laura, looking not unlike “Philip and Mary on a shilling,” are401seen enclosed within a heart which Cupid has pierced to the very core with one of his arrows. The volume contains seven other small cuts, designed and engraved in a style which very much resembles that of the cuts ascribed to Bernard Solomon; and as there is no mark by which his productions are to be ascertained, I think they are as likely to be of his designing as three-fourths of those which are generally supposed to be of his engraving.
The work entitled “Quadrins Historiques de la Bible,” with wood-cuts, ascribed to Bernard Solomon, and printed at Lyons by Jean de Tournes, was undoubtedly suggested by the “Historiarum Veteris Testamenti Icones”—Holbein’s Bible-cuts—first published by the brothers Frellon in 1538. The first edition of the Quadrins Historiques was published in octavo about 1550, and was several times reprinted within the succeeding twenty years. The total number of cuts in the edition of 1560 is two hundred and twenty-nine, of which no less than one hundred and seventy are devoted to the illustration of Exodus and Genesis. At the top of each is printed the reference to the chapter to which it relates, and at the bottom is a “Quadrin poëtique, tiré de la Bible, pour graver en la table des affeccions l’amour des sacrees Histories.” Those “Quadrins” appear to have been written by Claude Paradin. The composition of several of the cuts is good, and nearly all display greatneatnessof execution. The following is a fac-simile of the seventh, Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise. It is, however, necessary to observe that this is by no means one of the best cuts either in point of design or execution.
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A similar work, entitled “Figures du Nouveau Testament,” with cuts, evidently designed by the person who had made the drawings for those in the “Quadrins Historiques de la Bible,” was also published by Jean de Tournes about 1553, and several editions were subsequently printed. The cuts are rather less in size than those of the Quadrins, and are, on the whole, rather better engraved. The total number is a hundred and four, and under each are six explanatory verses, composed by Charles Fonteine, who, in a short poetical address at the commencement, dedicates the work “A Tres-illustre et Treshaute Princesse, Madame Marguerite de France, Duchesse de Berri.” The following, Christ tempted by Satan, is a copy of the sixteenth cut, but like that of the expulsion of Adam and Eve, it is not one of the best in the work.
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Old engravings and paintings illustrative of manners or of costume are generally interesting; and on this account a set of large wood-cuts designed by Peter Coeck of Alost, in Flanders, is deserving of notice. The subjects of those cuts are the manners and costumes of the Turks; and the drawings were made on the spot by Coeck himself, who visited Turkey in 1533. It is said that he brought from the east an important secret relative to the art of dyeing silk and wool for the fabrication of tapestries, a branch of manufacture with which he appears to have been connected, and for which he made a number of designs. He was also an architect and an author; and published several treatises on sculpture, geometry, perspective, and architecture. The cuts illustrative of the manners and costume of the Turks were not published until 1553, three years after his decease, as we learn from an inscription403on the last.VI.77They are oblong, of folio size; and the seven of which the set consists are intended to be joined together, and thus to form one continuous subject. The figures, both on foot and horseback, are designed with great spirit, but they want relief, and the engraving is coarse. One of the customs which he has illustrated in the cut No. 3 is singular; and though thisorientalismhas been noticed by a Scottish judge—Maclaurin of Dreghorn—Peter Coeck appears to be the only traveller who has graphically represented “quo modo Turci mingunt,” i. e.sedentes. Succeeding artists have availed themselves liberally of those cuts. As the Turks in the sixteenth century were much more formidable as a nation than at present, and their manners and customs objects of greater curiosity, wood engravings illustrative of their costume and mode of living appear to have been in considerable demand at that period, for both in books and as single cuts they are comparatively numerous.
Though chiaro-scuro engraving on wood was, in all probability, first practised in Germany, yet the art does not appear to have been so much cultivated nor so highly prized in that country as in Italy. Between 1530 and 1550, when Antonio Fantuzzi, J. N. Vincentini, and other Italians, were engaged in executing numerous chiaro-scuros after the designs of such masters as Raffaele, Corregio, Parmegiano, Polidoro, Beccafumi, and F. Salviati, the art appears to have been comparatively abandoned by the wood engravers of Germany. The chiaro-scuros executed in the latter country cannot generally for a moment bear a comparison, either in point of design or execution, with those executed in Italy during the same period. I have, however, seen one German cut executed in this style, with the date 1543, which, for the number of the blocks from which it is printed, and the delicacy of the impression in certain parts, is, if genuine, one of the most remarkable of that period. As the paper, however, seems comparatively modern, I am induced to suspect that the date may be that of the painting or drawing, and that this picture-print—for, though executed by the same process, it would be improper to call it a chiaro-scuro—may have been the work of Ungher, a German wood engraver, who executed some chiaro-scuros at Berlin about seventy years ago. Whatever may be the date, however, or whoever may have been the artist, it is one of the best executed specimens of coloured block printing that I have ever seen.
This curious picture-print, including the border, is ten inches and three quarters high by six inches and three quarters wide. The subject is a figure of Christ; in his left hand he holds an orb emblematic of his power, while the right is elevated as in the act of pronouncing a benediction. His robe is blue, with the folds indicated by a darker tint, and the border and lighter parts impressed with at least two lighter colours. Above this robe there is a large red mantle, fastened in front with what appears to be a jewel of three different colours, ruby, yellow, and blue; the folds are of a darker colour; and the lights are expressed by a kind of yellow, which has evidently been either impressed, or laid on the paper with a brush, before the red colour of the mantle, and which, from its glistening, seems to have been compounded with some metallic substance like fine gold-dust. The border of the print consists of a similar yellow, between plain black lines. The face is printed in flesh colour of three tints, and the head is surrounded with rays of glory, which appear like gilding. The engraving of the face, and of the hair of the head and beard, is extremely well executed, and much superior to anything that I have seen in wood-cuts containing Ungher’s mark. The globe is blue, with the lights preserved, intersected by light red and yellow lines; and the small cross at the top is also yellow, like the light on the red mantle. The hands and feet are expressed in their proper colours; the ground on which the Redeemer stands is something between a lake and a fawn colour; and the ground of the print, upwards from about an inch above the bottom, is of a lighter blue than the robe. To the right, near the bottom, are the date and mark, thus:see textThe figure like a winged serpent resembles a mark which was frequently used by Lucas Cranach, except that the serpent or dragon of the latter appears less crooked, and usually has a ring in its mouth. The letter underneath also appears rather more like an I than an L. The drawing of the figure of Christ, however, is very much in the style of Lucas Cranach, and I am strongly inclined to think that the original painting or drawing was executed by him, whoever may have been the engraver. There must have been at least ten blocks required for this curious print, which, for clearness and distinctness in the colours, and for delicacy of impression, more especially in the face, may challenge a comparison not only with the finest chiaro-scuros of former times, but also with the best specimens of coloured block-printing of the present day.VI.78
In 1557, Hubert Goltzius, a painter, but better known as an author than as an artist, published at Antwerp, in folio, a work containing portraits, executed in chiaro-scuro, of the Roman emperors, from Julius Cæsar to Ferdinand I.VI.79Descamps, in his work entitled “La Vie des Peintres Flamands, Allemands et Hollandois,” says that those portraits, which are all copied from medals, were “engraved on wood by a painter of Courtrai, named Joseph Gietleughen;”VI.80and Papillon, who had examined the work more closely, but not closely enough, says that the outlines are etched, and that the tworentrées—the subsequent impressions which give to the whole the appearance of a chiaro-scuro drawing—are from blocks of wood engraved inintaglio. What Papillon says about the outlines being etched is true; but a close inspection of those portraits will afford any person acquainted with the process ample proof of the “rentrées” being also printed from plates of metal in the same manner as from engraved wood-blocks.
Each of those portraits appears like an enlarged copy of a medal, and is the result of three separate impressions; the first, containing the outlines of the head, the ornaments, and the name, has been printed from an etched plate of copper or some other metal, by means of a copper-plate printing-press; and the two other impressions, over the first, have also been from plates of metal, mounted on blocks of wood, and printed by means of the common typographic printing-press. The outlines of the head and of the letters forming the legend are black; the field of the medal is a muddy kind of sepia; and the head and the border, printed from the same surface and at the same time, are of a lighter shade. The lights to be preserved have been cut inintaglioin the plates for the two “rentrées” in the same manner as on blocks of wood for printing in chiaro-scuro. The marks of the pins by which the two plates for the “rentrées” have been fastened to blocks of wood, to raise them to a proper height, are very perceptible; in the field of the medal they appear like circular points, generally in pairs; while round the outer margin they are mostly of a square form. It is difficult to conceive what advantage Goltzius might expect to derive by printing the “rentrées” from metal plates; for all that he has thus produced could have been more simply effected by means of wood-blocks, as practised up to that time by all other chiaro-scuro engravers. Though those portraits possess but little merit as chiaro-scuros, they are yet highly interesting in the history of art, as affording the first instances of406etching being employed for the outlines of a chiaro-scuro, and of the substitution, in surface-printing, of a plate of metal for a wood-block. Goltzius’s manner of etching the outlines of a chiaro-scuro print was frequently practised both by French and English artists about the middle of the last century; and about 1722, Edward Kirkall engraved the principal parts of his chiaro-scuros in mezzo-tint, and afterwards printed a tint from a metal plate mounted on wood. In the present day Mr. George Baxter has successfully applied the principle of engraving the ground and the outlines of his subjects in aqua-tint; and, as in the case of Hubert Goltzius and Kirkall, he sometimes uses a metal-plate instead of a wood-block in surface-printing. In the picture-prints executed by Mr. Baxter for the Pictorial Album, 1837, the tint of the paper on which each imitative painting appears to be mounted, is communicated from a smooth plate of copper, which receives the colour, and is printed in the same manner as a wood-block.
Among the German artists who made designs for wood engravers from the time of Durer to about 1590, Erhard Schön, Virgil Solis, Melchior Lorich, and Jost Amman may be considered as the principal. They are all frequently described as wood engravers from the circumstance of their marks being found on the cuts which they undoubtedly designed, but most certainly did not engrave. Erhard Schön chiefly resided at Nuremberg; and some of the earliest cuts of his designing are dated 1528. In 1538 he published at Nuremberg a small treatise, in oblong quarto, on the proportions of the human figure, for the use of students and young persons.VI.81This work contains several wood-cuts, all coarsely engraved, illustrative of the writer’s precepts; two or three of them—where the heads and bodies are represented by squares and rhomboidal figures—are extremely curious, though apparently not very well adapted to improve a learner in the art of design. Another of the cuts, where the proportions are illustrated by means of a figure inscribed within a circle, is very like one of the illustrations contained in Flaxman’s Lectures on Sculpture. Some cuts of playing-cards, designed by Schön, are in greater request than any of his other works engraved on wood, which, for the most part, have but little to recommend them. He died about 1550.
Virgil Solis, a painter, copper-plate engraver, and designer on wood, was born at Nuremberg about 1514. The cuts which contain his mark are extremely numerous; and, from their being mostly of small size, he is ranked by Heineken with the “Little Masters.” Several of his cuts407display great fertility of invention; but though his figures are frequently spirited and the attitudes good, yet his drawing is generally careless and incorrect. As a considerable number of his cuts are of the same kind as those of Bernard Solomon, it seems as if there had been a competition at that time between the booksellers of Nuremberg and those of Lyons for supplying the European market with illustrations of two works of widely different character, to wit, the Bible, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses,—Virgil Solis being retained for the German, and Bernard Solomon for the French publishers. He designed the cuts in a German edition of the Bible, printed in 1560; most of the portraits of the Kings of France in a work published at Nuremberg in 1566; a series of cuts for Esop’s fables; and the illustrations of an edition of Reusner’s Emblems. Several cuts with the mark of Virgil Solis are to be found in the first edition of Archbishop Parker’s Bible, printed by Richard Jugge, folio, London, 1568. In the second edition, 1572, there are two ornamented initial letters, apparently of his designing, which seem to show that his sacred and profane subjects were liable to be confounded, and that cuts originally designed for an edition of Ovid might by some singular oversight be used in an edition of the Bible, although printed under the especial superintendence of a Right Reverend Archbishop. In the letter G, which forms the commencement of the first chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews, the subject represented by the artist is Leda caressed by Jupiter in the form of a swan; and in the letter T at the commencement of the first chapter of the Epistle General of St. John, the subject is Venus before Jove, with Cupid, Juno, Mars, Neptune, and other Heathen deities in attendance.VI.82
A series of wood-cuts designed by Virgil Solis, illustrative of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, was published at Frankfort, in oblong quarto, by George Corvinus, Sigismund Feyerabend, and the heirs of Wigand Gallus, in 1569. Each cut is surrounded by a heavy ornamental border; above each are four verses in Latin, and underneath four in German, composed by Johannes Posthius, descriptive of the subject. In the title-page,VI.83which is both in Latin and in German, it is stated that they aredesigned—gerissen—by Virgil Solis for the use and benefit of painters, goldsmiths, and statuaries. It is thus evident that they were not engraved by him; and in corroboration of this opinion it may be observed that several408of them, in addition to his mark,symbol, also contain another,symbol, which is doubtless that of the wood engraver. The latter mark occurs frequently in the cuts designed by Virgil Solis, in the first edition of Archbishop Parker’s Bible.
Evelyn, in his Sculptura, has the following notice of this artist: “Virgilius Solis graved also in woodThe story of the BibleandThe mechanic artsin little; but for imitating those vile postures of Aretine had his eyes put out by the sentence of the magistrate.” There is scarcely a page of this writer’s works on art which does not contain similar inaccuracies, and yet he is frequently quoted and referred to as an authority. The “mechanic arts” to which Evelyn alludes were probably the series of cuts designed by Jost Amman, and first published in quarto, at Frankfort, in 1564; and the improbable story of Virgil Solis having had his eyes put out for copying Julio Romano’s obscene designs, engraved by Marc Antonio, and illustrated with sonnets by the scurrilous ribald, Pietro Aretine, is utterly devoid of foundation. No such copies have ever been mentioned by any well-informed writer on art, and there is not the slightest evidence of Virgil Solis ever having been punished in any manner by the magistrates of his native city, Nuremberg, where he died in 1570.
Wood-cuts with the mark of Melchior Lorich are comparatively scarce. He was a native of Flensburg in Holstein, and was born in 1527. He obtained a knowledge of painting and copper-plate engraving at Leipsic, and afterwards travelled with his master through some of the northern countries of Europe. He afterwards visited Vienna, and subsequently entered into the service of the Palsgrave Otho, in whose suite he visited Holland, France, and Italy. In 1558 he went with the Imperial ambassador to Constantinople, where he remained three years. His principal works engraved on wood consist of a series of illustrations of the manners and customs of the Turks, published about 1570. There is a very clever cut, a Lady splendidly dressed, with his mark and the date 1551; it is printed on what is called a “broadside,” and underneath is a copy of verses by Hans Sachs, the celebrated shoemaker andmeistersängerof Nuremberg,VI.84entitled “Eer und Lob einer schön wolgezierten Frawen”—The Honour and Praise of a beautiful well-dressed woman. A large cut of the Deluge, in two sheets, is409considered one of the best of his designing. Among the copper-plates engraved by Melchior Lorich, a portrait of Albert Durer, and two others, of the Grand Signior and his favourite Sultana, are among the most scarce. The time of his death is uncertain, but Bartsch thinks that he was still living in 1583, as there are wood-cuts with his mark of that date.
Jost Amman, one of the best designers on wood of the period in which he lived, was born at Zurich in 1539, but removed to Nuremberg about 1560.VI.85His designs are more bold, and display more of the vigour of the older German masters, than those of his contemporary Virgil Solis. A series of cuts designed by him, illustrative of professions and trades, was published in 1564, quarto, with the title “Hans Sachse eigentliche Beschreibung aller Stände auf Erden—aller Künste und Handwerker,” &c.—that is, Hans Sachs’s correct Description of all Ranks, Arts, and Trades; and another edition in duodecimo, with the descriptions in Latin, appeared in the same year.VI.86For the correctness of the date of those editions I am obliged to rely on Heineken, as I have never seen a copy of either; the earliest edition with Hans Sachs’s descriptions that has come under my notice is dated 1574. In a duodecimo edition, 1568, and another of the same size, 1574, the descriptions, by Hartman Schopper, are in Latin verse.VI.87This is perhaps the most curious and interesting series of cuts, exhibiting the various ranks and employments of men, that ever was published. Among the higher orders, constituting what the Germans call the “Lehre und Wehr Stande”—teachers and warriors—are the Pope, Emperor, King, Princes, Nobles, Priests, and Lawyers; while almost every branch of labour or of trade then known in Germany, from agriculture to pin-making, has its representative. There are also not a few which it would be difficult to reduce to any distinct class, as they are neither trades nor honest professions. Of those heteroclytes is the “Meretricum procurator—der Hurenweibel”—or, as Captain Dugald Dalgetty says, “the captain of the Queans.”
The subject of the following cut, which is of the same size as the410original, is aBriefmaler,—literally, a card-painter, the name by which the German wood engravers were known before they adopted the more appropriate one ofFormschneider. It is evident, that, at the time when the cut was engraved, the two professions were distinct:VI.88we here perceive the Briefmaler employed, not in engraving cuts, but engaged in colouring certain figures by means of astencil,—that is, a card or thin plate of metal, out of which the intended figure is cut. A brush charged with colour being drawn over the pierced card, as is seen in the cut, the figure is communicated to the paper placed underneath. The little shallow vessels perceived on the top of the large box in front are the saucers which contain his colours. Near the window, immediately to his right, is a pile of sheets which, from the figure of a man on horseback seen impressed upon them, appear to be already finished.
see text
The subject of the following cut, from the same work, is aFormschneider, or wood engraver proper. He is apparently at work on a block which he has before him; but the kind of tool which he employs is not exactly like those used by English wood engravers411of the present day. It seems to resemble a small long-handled desk-knife; while the tool of the modern wood engraver has a handle which is rounded at the top in order to accommodate it to the palm of the hand. It is also never held vertically, as it appears in the hand of theFormschneider. It is, however, certain, from other woodcuts, which will be subsequently noticed, that the wood engravers of that period were accustomed to use a tool with a handle rounded at the top, similar to the graver used in the present day.VI.89—The verses descriptive of the annexed cut are translated from Hans Sachs.